I am debating on putting a 502, a 350 RamJet, or a 383 fast burn motor in my '62, and am wondering a)if I have enough room for the 502 or the RamJet under the hood, b)if the motor mount will be a problem with any of the engines, c) if the trans will bolt right up to any of the engines, and d)what kind of exhaust manifolds do I need. Any advice would be appreciated. Also, I've heard that the torque of a big block could twist the original frame of a '62. Is this true? Thanks for the help.
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Re: '62 engine
In l970, i put a L88 in one of my 57 vets( essentially same as your 62 frame). I had to fabricate motor mounts, had to use a hood scoop(holly on tarantula manifold necessitated this mod),got a set of hooker or hedman headers made specifically for big block in Cl chassis(don't know if they are still made but doubt it--tossed mine on scrap pile after tripping over them years ago),and used a Muncie 4 spd. the only body mod was to remove a small tab (actually the bond joint of upper and lower firewall bond area just inboard of the heater core--I,d guess this tab at about 1 1/2 " by 3/4".) another problem was ground clearance with the headers(they touched mother earth) so i made a spacer out of an I beam to insert between the front crossmember and the frame. It was a sight to behold. Car was realy quick in a straight line but handled terribly thru curves(we lived in W.Va at the time and they have plenty of curvey roads) My suggestion would be a small block. By the way, i still have the old 57 and will restore soon--would you believe i saved the orig 250 hp engine--- didn't think youd believe it either -
Re: '62 engine
Bill Thomas used to sell a kit to put a 427 in an early corvette without cutting anyting, included special mounts, headers etc, had to use the '68 up series intake manifolds for clearance (One I saw used the low rise 3X2 on a 427/435) with the hood closed you would swear it had a 270hp 283 in it. I doubt you could find the kit now, but it can be done. BTW, the owner of the car I saw the conversion on kept his original 283 "just in case".Bill Clupper #618Comment
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Re: '62 engine
The Ramjet 350 will not fit in the engine compartment because the hood won't close. Tried it in a '62. Too bad GM didn't look at the design a little closer!Comment
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